For the third year in a row West Virginia University students joined forces with Friends of Cheat to maintain vital river access points. On September 27th 12 students and several staff from Greg Corio's Adventure West Virginia program spent three hours improving the boat launch area at the FOC river access in Albright. The spot, at the confluence of the Cheat River and Muddy Creek, is used by kayakers and canoeists who run Cheat Canyon. Low water and warm air temperatures made the job easier.
The group used a method that Dustin and Scott Stough used to repair shore side erosion at the Sang Run access on Maryland’s Upper Youghiogheny River. The entire muddy launch area was covered with big flat rocks; these are in excellent supply in the nearby river. When the water rises, silt fills the gaps between the rocks and creates a natural-looking, but tough launch area. This procedure can repeated several times if necessary to restore the shoreline.
Then the group waded into the shallow Cheat River to remove some rocks that block easy access to the main river flow at low levels. This area has been shallow since the 1985 flood pushed boulders between the shore and the main current. We hope that this will make it easier for paddlers to begin their trip but we'll have to wait and see what effect the winter high water will have.
The day ended with a discussion of acid mine drainage and thermal polution, two problems vividly demonstrated here, at the confluence of the Cheat River and Muddy Creek. We also discussed the mining heritage of Preston County, the T&T mine blowout, the founding of Friends of Cheat, and our ongoing efforts to repair the damage from a century of mining.
Two weeks later twelve more community service students from Adventure West Virginia put in a hard three hours work at the Jenkinsburg Access. This spot, at the junction of the Cheat and Big Sandy Rivers, is an important paddling access area that gets used heavily by college students and local residents. The group spread out and scoured the woods for trash. The resulting 25 bags of garebage overflowed the bed of a pickup. Afterwards, we stood on the High Bridge and discussed the logging heritage of the area, the challenge presented by acid mine drainage, and the work of Friends of Cheat.
Both areas looks really good now, thanks to our friends at WVU.
